Page 55 - Sarah's Children

Have you noticed how absent honor is from homes today? It seems that honor is
viewed as being as archaic and as outdated as the concept of a wife calling her
husband ‘lord.’ I see great dishonor in families today. Even in Christian homes I have
observed children cursing their parents, yelling at them, pushing them, and treating
them with great contempt. I have seen sons and daughters willfully disobeying their
mother and father, often with the parents trying to placate the anger of their children
by giving in to the child’s tantrum. I have seen wives publicly correcting their
husbands and reproving them without any shame. I have heard adult saints boasting
about harshly reproving their elderly parents for some decision or action.

In all of this the honor that is due those who are to be honored is missing. Paul
instructed the church in this way.

Romans 13:1-2, 7
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For
there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are
established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed
the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive
condemnation upon themselves... Render to all what is due them: tax
to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor
to whom honor.

The civil governments of this world would fall into anarchy if there were no honor
given to the authority they wield. Similarly, in the home chaos ensues when honor
is lacking. A wise woman builds her home by instilling within it a sense of honor.

It is all too common today for a woman to speak criticisms of her husband publicly.
It is also very common to hear a wife making her husband the butt of a joke, or of
some jest. I have sat in a home church group and listened as the wife of a pastor
mimicked how her husband would whine and cajole and urge her to obey him in
some manner. This woman thought it was some type of sport to poke fun at her
husband and to embarrass him publicly. It was no coincidence that I observed this
same woman speaking harshly, and in a condemning manner, to her mother in the
presence of others.

There is an appalling lack of honor among the saints today, on the job, in their
homes, in relation to the civil governments, in the churches, and in every realm of
authority which Yahweh has established. But perhaps nowhere is the damage seen
as clearly as in the home. A wise woman will build her home by doing everything she
can to ensure that honor is present.

Restoring honor, first and foremost, must begin with the woman’s own relationship